The Greengrass Ball
by Claykalin
Summary: Daphne's family host their annual Christmas Ball. Her mother gives her a nauseous surprise, her brother Sean makes his usual dramatic entrance, and her father lives up to the usual expectations. Special albeit short appearances by her friends Tracey, Millicent, Theo and Pansy.


**The Greengrass Ball**

**_A/N:_**_Hello! This one shot is written for day four of the Advent Calendar Competition on HPFC (link can be found in my bio)_

_Prompt: Mistletoe_

_**Disclaimer:**__I do not own any rights to the Harry Potter series nor am I making any money from writing this, just having a lot of fun!_

_Enjoy!_

…

One of Daphne Greengrass's lesser favourite times of the year was Christmas. Sure, she had her moments with friends, and her brother Sean always had the greatest presents and helped keep everyone happy, but there was no hiding the divide in her family. On one side was herself, Sean and their mother. On the other was her father and two younger siblings; Astoria and Rowan.

Still, her parents where forces of nature when it came to preparing their manor. The House Elves were working harder than ever to remove any speckle of dust, ensure every portrait was ready to behave (some could be quite rude, or at the very least loud), every small reading room and study that guests could find themselves in were to be neat and presentable, and the Avery Hall (so named for one of her Great Great Grandmothers who missed the ballroom at her own home) was sparkling for the festivities.

A grand tree stood at the far end of the hall, easily matching the height of the hall that was nearly as wide and tall as the Great Hall up at Hogwarts. Daphne didn't help decorate the tree, but she did provide instructions to Hally and Leed who were in charge of the other six House Elves taking care of the tree. She never liked the green and red combination, too childish, and the blue and silver 'winter wonderland' colour scheme was overdone. Something different was required this year. She went with green, blue and purple baubles, with silver tinsel. Astoria put her foot down for the tree topper, though. She'd carved a merwoman with fairy wings and insisted it was festive.

A section to the right of the Hall was left open for dancing, and there was a section where, three hours before guests were due to arrive, two flutists, four violinists and a harpist set up and began to play. The rest of the hall was filled with circular tables covered in deep purple tablecloths, and eight dark wooden chairs with no cushions, just the beauty of smooth wood and cushioning charms. Floating throughout the room where little balls of light that sparkled a soft blue colour, just little marbles that she'd charmed to be luminous. Her mother commented that the slow drift of these hundred or thousand little lights almost looked like snow, and Daphne immediately acted as though the visual was planned.

All in all, Daphne was pretty happy with the Hall set up, but it was only when guests started to arrive and she mingled that she realised what her mother had done to the hallways beyond. After all, you didn't open one room to guests on a night like this. The whole manor was open for judgement.

Mistletoe. Everywhere. _Everywhere_. Above nearly every door way, leading into sitting rooms, parlours, dining rooms and, eventually she found, even her own bedroom.

Tracey and Millicent had absolutely no problem with this, and proved that point even when they just passed a marked doorway, never mind using that particular room. As the night wore on her friends drank more and more. There would be nothing strong compared to the stuff they had hidden in their rooms for their own get togethers, but enough Elf Made Wine (the kind of high class liquid her father preferred, imported from Portugal of all places) could make even strong drinkers like Pansy, Theo and Greg tipsy.

This point was proven when, deep into the night and a floor above the Hall where only the faintest of sounds could be heard, Daphne came across Pansy and Theo lip-locked in the alcove to the Tasset Study. Of course, this was whilst Daphne was giving a tour to Mr and Mrs Nott, Theo's aunt and uncle. The lady looked furious but the man just gave a soft laugh and they continued on. Pansy wasn't a threat to their family, but if Theo was snogging any of the half-bloods downstairs the reaction would have been very different.

Her father had taken Astoria and Rowan outside to prepare the gardens, pathway, front gates and outside wall decorations. They'd travelled to Knockturn Alley in the morning and came back with several cages of bright fairies. These fairies were charmed to stay in certain trees or bushes near the front entrance or around the courtyard to the side of the house where many guests would go seeking fresh air and quiet throughout the night.

Astoria and Rowan had run around playing some game, Daphne had seen them through a window whilst she's gone searching for her mother earlier in the day (before the _mistletoe thing_ had become so apparent), they carried long strands of thick tinsel that flashed between blue and silver (her father didn't care to match Daphne's indoor colour scheme) and as they played it was draped over hedges and wrapped around the bases of statues and small water fountains.

The pebble-stone drive that lead from the front gate to the manor doors was charmed in places so that the stones twinkled in the sunlight, and later in the light from the lamps, but also so that they chimed with a sound that could only be described as _Christmas_ whenever someone walked or drove over them in their carriage.

But Sean was missing for most of the day, much to Daphne's annoyance as he, too, should have been helping prepare inside with her and her mother. He appeared much the same time as the musicians, looking flustered but carrying several bags that he'd charmed so they appeared empty to her when she found him.

Where had he been? She'd asked and received no real answer. But she discovered later in the night that he'd nominated himself as Santa Claus, when he Apparated into the middle of the Hall dressed in some ridiculous red and white outfit (whilst Daphne knew _of_ Santa Claus, she'd hardly been taken by her parents to sit on some old Muggle man's lap and tell him her Christmas wishes) and started going 'ho ho ho' (whatever _that_ meant) and giving presents to all the kids who'd swarmed him.

Sometimes Daphne thought Sean's friendship with a Muggleborn was good, it certainly opened their eyes to various ideas regarding their family, education and whatnot, but then he did stupid things like _this_, or like back at Easter when he'd conjured a bunch of rabbits because somewhere along the line he'd understood that actual rabbits left chocolate eggs for him.

_Honestly_.

But the night went well; no one was cursed because of old family squabbles or even sitting in someone else's seat. Even the half-bloods had a good time (they never did seem to notice the looks purebloods sent their way, or the dance floor exclusions when an old Hufflepuff Ballad was played).

Her father even wished her a Merry Christmas, in his own special way of giving her a proud-of-his-daughter look as he handed her a present.

It was a Merlin-damned family tree carving that Daphne instantly recognised to be Astoria's own handy work.

…

**_A/N:_**_ Hope you liked it! Drop a review and let me know what you think! Have a nice day!_


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